Boston Lockdown – The Tsarnaev Brothers

Last night, police shot and killed Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a 26 year old Chechen who moved to Boston with his family. Tamerlan, along with his brother are believed to be the Boston Marathon bombers. For some reason, the pair robbed a 7-11 last night and then ended up car jacking a car and shot and killed one police officer while wounding another. 19 year old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (above) is still on the run from police and Boston is on lockdown while they search for him.

Talking to my 6 year old today, we were discussing how human nature tries to find the positives in tragedy and in the Boston bombings, that seemed to come in the form of seeing how people had the instinctual reaction to selflessly rush to the aid of others. These two display traits of unfathomable evil and make choices that boggle the mind, but I'm gratified to know that humanity is alive and well. Love and light to Boston

I have heard the brothers came to the us 1 1/2 years ago. Lots of conflicting info while the situation is happening.

I was up at 5am pt and am glued to this coverage. Amazing. I watched an on air reporter on CNN get interrupted by a screaming woman that there was smoke and something was happening. So far k9 dogs seem to have found explosives.

@seachica they say they 19yr old has a bomb strapped to his chest too? culturally speaking these two are now a disgrace to their family I assume…so of course the uncle would give full details to his whereabouts and anyone affiliated-I'm sure the authorities have made this most uncomfortable for a lot of them

@thegreatdanadane From what I understand they might not be considered a disgrace to the family. They are from Chechnya, a place that's had a long history of war and terrorism towards Russia and anyone that they think is keeping them from having independence. The terrorist groups in Chechnya are connected to a number of bombings over the years, as well as the theater hostage situation in Russia in 2004 (or around there).

I've also been reading that some groups in Chechnya have connections to Al Queda, and one of their leaders met with Osama Bin Laden, or at least had some kind of contact with him.

Chechnyans are muslim terrorists but as far as I know they don't practice "taliban-like" islam. It seems to be it is more politically based-as in they want independence from Russia. Nevertheless, Chenchnyan Muslims have been terrorizing Russia for decades and have killed hundreds there.

I will tell you this, a few days ago, Putin offered KGB help in finding the culprits who bombed the marathon, and he seems to express disgust at the event-which is fine, but i have never heard him speak so strongly about anything bad that hsa happenec here before. Russia is NOT really our ally.

I think our government knew there was something going on-Putin certainly knew and had intelligence about it-the defeat of chechnyan rebels is important to him no matter what country they arfe operating in.

@Jesse, the older brother had complained that after living in the US for years, he still didn't have a single American friend. The younger one went to High School here and lacking friends didn't seem to be a problem for him. Maybe that's why.

It's otherworldly watching this unfold on live television, with continual new developments. The CNN channel I fell asleep watching woke me up at 3AM, and I haven't been able to tear myself away since.

@Jessie Read the start of this article. http://rt.com/news/chechnya-suspect-boston-bombing-110/ His father found out what his kids did and still called his son a "true angel", and as for your comment that not everyone in Chechnya is a terrorist, of course they're not… but these two were. It's also being reported that the dad worked for the government of Chechnya. As I said in my first post, Chechnya doesn't have the best history of looking down on terrorism.

I guess they were refugees. Someone did an article about the older brother a few years ago, which mentioned he had no American friends because, apparently, he didn't understand Americans. He also didn't drink or smoke because he was Muslim.

The RT.com story I linked to is being updated all day whenever they find new information, so I'd keep an eye on it.

Also, this article http://www.cfr.org/terrorism/chechen-terrorism-russia-chechnya-separatist/p9181 has a ton of info about Chechnya, its history, and its history of terrorism. I'd recommend everyone that's trying to understand why they did what they did, maybe this article will help.

The sister of a guy I went to college went to school with one of the guys.

Really interesting article, Libby. There's also a thing circulating on facebook about that guy in the cowboy hat who saved the man who got his legs blown off. In the photo, he is literally holding an artery closed to keep him from losing too much blood.

Chechnyans are Muslim terrorists, yes, I meant that. It doesn't mean all checnyans are muslim terrorists but when they are terrorists they are also muslim- in fact their group is connected to al-quaeda. I could be wrong, but most of the time their terrorist activities are not for the same reasons necessarily as the fanatics in say afghanistan. I think theirs is more politically based since they want independence from Russia. It is not like bin Laden who was a terrorist with the ultimate aim of converting everyone to Islam. However, these two kids may have been radicalized by an Islamic group. I think they must have been, since the US has nothing to do with Russia's involvement in Chechnya.

A few people told me to follow the hacker group Anonymous on twitter for updates about this story. They had just posted a link to this article… http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/boston-bombing-suspect-posted-video-al-qaeda-prophecy-youtube

I haven't read through the article yet, just thought you'd all be interested in it as well.

Katie: Not all Chechnyans are terrorists just like not all Muslims are terrorists.Remember the Oklahoma City bomber? He was a white home-grown American. Terrorists come in ALL races, religions,and ethnic origins.It's generalizations and labels like these that cause racism, hatred, racial profiling,racial tensions and discrimination.You can't blame an entire group for the actions of some crazed individuals. I'm also glad the bombers turned out not to be Arabs,actually, as it would have only increased anti-Arab backlash and damaged international peace even more.

Why are you Americans thinking that this is because this two muslims wanted Chechnya's independence? Did the 9-11 terrorist want Saudi/Egipcian independence? Did mohamed merah (Toulouse, 2012. Google it if you don't remember) want Algerian independence?

omg Pogue Mahone- That is not what I meant. Read my second post. When a chechnyan is a terrorist they are also muslim. Just the same way that when someone is in the IRA and commits a terrorist activity they are catholic. You people are so quick to be outraged your reading comprehension suffers.

That being said, most terrorists are radicalized muslims. No amount of sashaying around the facts is going to distort that truth, which is backed by sheer numbers. Sorry.

This still doesn't mean all muslims are terrorists, just like not all chechnyans are terrorists. This is such an obvious fact I have no idea why you would even need to point it out!

I think they were radicalized by a radical group in Boston most likely. I do not think it has anything to do with Checnyans independence. However, that is a main goal of terrorists when they commit crimes in russia.

Callow punks llke these twits make me so mad. I'm a card-carrying liberal, but it's times like these I really wish torture was an acceptable form of punishment. These guys deserve to be hung up to a tree by their gonads and forced to endure the same pain and suffering they've caused to so many innocents. They're not worthy of humane justice.

Sorry libby- When I am rereading it I realized I should have said chechnyan separatist terrorists are muslim. As in, yes, that is their religion almost always since that is the religion of chechnya. Definitely should have been more clear. And yes, you people is bad. I get annoyed by it too lol. sorry!

I treasure the CDaN community and send thanks for the great humanity and smarts thriving here.

The bombing victim whose legs were blown off and still helped the FBI identify the attackers is a heroic young man, Jeff Bauman. If you want to donate in support of his recovery, his friends have set up a fund: http://www.gofundme.com/BucksforBauman

Katie: Sorry if I misunderstood you. I apologize.I wrongly thought you meant that ALL Chechnyans are terrorists, all Muslims are terrorists, and all Muslim Chechnyans are terrorists, which, of course, they're all not.

I just read an interesting perspective from another site. These guys have less in common with terrorists like Al-Qaeda and more in common with the Aurora, Virginia Tech and Newtown shooters. They're young men who feel ignored and insignificant and want the world to take notice. They lack the basic social skills to feel empathy and connection to their fellow human beings.

While I certainly feel sorry for everyone – families involved, citizens, wounded, families of those who died, etc, right now I have a special concern for law enforcement….they've been up all night….worried and on hair triggers….exhaustion and fear don't make for a good combination….right now they're the group I'm praying for. I know they'll do their best but when you've been without sleep for 24 hours, mistakes can happen. Please pray for them.

I have a friend who is friends with the PO who was gravely injured AND another friend who was coaching swim practice at 6am-decided to keep his swimmers there bc of what was going on outside, only to have entire swat teams enter the building and evacuate everyone to safety. Boston does not have a very large police force 2,000 to NYC's 36,000), I wonder if NYC sent help? Sounds like they are really canvassing the entire area and taking no risks with peoples lives, which is great to hear.

@ just another girl- the reason why I would say that perspective is 100% wrong (comparing them to Newtown shooters etc) is because the one that they are currently hunting down had lots of friends and led a normal life in high school.

I think that is a good point. It is seeming like the older brother was a disaffected loner type and ended up dragging the younger into his sick delusions. It is telling the family has said nothing about the older brother – other than the uncle stating "he got what he deserved"

I definitely think he deserved what he got, but it seems he had some kind if chip on his shoulder judging from his, "I don't have a single American friend…" post. At the end of the day, he is a thug, coward, and terrorist (same way I feel about al-Qaeda, mass shooters, Chicago and Mexico gangs, and the like).

So we don't KNOW for sure these kids are the bombers, they are just suspects at this time correct? Can we stop indicting them as THE bombers..We just don't know for sure.

And as Pogue pointed out there are American terrorists out there too. To make a sweeping generality that all Muslims are terrorist was irresponsible even if you had to "explain" it correctly. As Libby said, people grab that from the interwebs and run with it and sweeping statements about any one group is prejudice.

Seachica – glad to hear there are dogs. Dogs on every corner could have prevented the killing. So unnecessary. In our changing world dogs would be an appropriate response to prevention. After everyone is hurt it's too late.

Hard to say what the real story is, but chances are they are part of the trend of terrorist groups seeking out young impressionable angry teens and turning them into terrorist. This has been going on for the past few years and they have been somewhat successful. Probably easy to spot these kids on twitter and Facebook.

Foreign nationals are photographed for govt. databases all the time. This is all run on very expensive computers housed in very expensive data centers run by highly paid individuals who hold very expensive security clearances. If you ask me those pics were at least a day late. Out tax dollars at work.

@Katie I hear what you're saying and there is obviously more to this story. I haven't seen anything linking either two to any terrorist group. Has anyone else? It's just as likely that they are disaffected assholes than that they are Muslim terrorists. At this point neither can be called true so maybe it's best to wait and get the whole story rather than assuming what the motives were.

I've been at work and haven't been able to keep track of everything so if I'm wrong and they have identified them with some group or found some manifesto, then my above point is invalid.

I've been watching on local tv since the wee hours. It has been so challenging for those poor people who live closer in.

Now that they are finding out more about these kids it is even worse–now I'm to the point where hearing their families and people who knew them talk–I am struggling with "why" and with what could have been going on with these guys–especially with the younger one–to have brought them to this place. They were smart, educated, had lived here a while–had regular lives and now this. When they were anonymous it was easier to be detached.

On another note–my company has done what they usually do–(I work for a local retail chain)–they are putting out merchandising plans to the stores to immediately pull all "Boston" product together into a "Support Boston" statement—never miss a chance to sell. (sarcasm here) They'll donate something to some charity–but it always feels very opportunistic to me–they did it at 9/11 too.

Katie – thanks for your commentary. I too believe radical groups may have influenced this. Seems Putin and govt. here knew something. I think it's sad our tools are not used more wisely for prevention. Many lives could be saved.

@Sherry – the man who had his legs blown off positively identified the brother who was killed early this morning after seeing FBI photographs. I think this is why the FBI were convinced he was one of the perpetrators. He said suspect #1 looked right at him and set the bag down by his feet.

It's really sad that people can have this much hatred inside of them, and that anyone could willingly cause so much suffering without feeling remorse, and worse, thinking they've done a good thing. The message this sort of action needs to start sending is that you're a fucking piece of shit asshole of a human being if you're willing to maim and kill innocent people. Labeling their kind as "Terrorists" makes them seem ominous and more important than they should ever be. Instead, they are pathetic cowards who shouldn't be feared, but instead reviled and looked upon with disgust, and then dropped into the dustbin of human history, forgotten.

Local news is contacting schoolmates, neighbors, I just saw the uncle speak –and he is devastated. They just tracked down their sister in NJ and she is hiding in her apartment. She hasn't spoken to them in a long time.

Originally last night the I saw a quote from the younger one saying he had no American friends–that he doesn't understand them.

Then to hear people who knew him all through school saying they went to Prom parties with them–the young one had a girlfriend, he went to a very highly rated school and was what they call a "star student"–which was a leadership program.

So hard to understand this totally double life–seemed to be so normal.

They had a local mechanic (he also sounded like he is an imigrant) who was in tears–they were in his shop the day after the bombing to pick up a car he was repairing–he was so upset saying if he'd only known–he would have done something.

This is very sad and baffling how these guys were so corrupted and ruined…and nobody knew. It does feel like those school shooters to me where a kid who was not on the radar at all just suddenly goes crazy.

@em eye Kay thank you for checking in on Robin and Vicky I am a long time reader and rare commenter on this site and love the CDanners and their comments. Also love your ever changing and amazing pictures and comments sending love and prayers to all in Boston especially first Responders.

There are people in this world who have no emotions other than hate, fear, frustration and rage ( see yesterday's sorority letter from U of Maryland ). Good will triumph over evil. There are way more good people in the world than bad.

@just a other girl: on the today show they reported that they had confirmed that the older brother had spent 6 months in his home region (had flown into Moscow, they did not have further details at the time) and had returned very vocal about anti-American sentiments. The analyst they were speaking to was a former FBI director who said that he could state as fact that they were looking into him being a part of a jihadist group that is big in Germany that is "a branch of al Queda" the anchor seemed taken aback by that, asked him to clarify. Again he said "this jihadist group IS a branch of al Queda. They've worked in close conjunction with them before" and that the intelligence at this point seems to indicate that the older brother, who was killed this morning (yay for the good guys, go FBI, Boston PD and all the agencies from neighboring areas helping out) was a part of this jihadist group. It is not certain but it seems highly likely, from the former FBI director.

@sherry: they are at very least the murderers who killed a police officer early this morning while committing an armed robbery and carjacking. They are murderers, no suspects. Eyewitnesses saw them shoot that man to death. No suspicion of it. They are no longer suspects

I was wondering when we would find out more, and it looks like we've got our answer. This is a baby al Qaeda thing to do, someone that hates Americans enough, someone that thinks that God hates Americans enough, (hence they feel religiously zealous enough that the killing and maiming is justified) to want to kill and maim American Children and amputees running in the marathon. This has al qaeda (not capitalizing their bullshit anymore)written all over it, through and through.

I really hope they get this guy alive. I know it sounds strange but…I really want to hear what, if any, reason he would give for doing this. I am just so baffled at what would cause someone to do something like this. To look in the eyes of one of your victims, then walk away.

(I know there is really NO reason; I just can't help but want to know what they were thinking.)

The police are at their home in Cambridge–planning to do a "controlled detonation" before they go in to make sure it isn't booby trapped.

They said the MTBA policeman is going to be ok–he's out of surgery. I also just heard that 15 police went to the hospital after they took out the older guy–they had injuries–I gather not serious.

Our store in Waltham is closed–they are not directly in the neighborhood but near enough, I guess they are part of the area that is locked down.It looks like our store in W.Roxbury is open but they haven't done any real business today. I think most of the city is staying home and inside.

As a wife of an Officer here in Tx, I appreciate you thinking of them. This affects them and their families. I've been through a manhunt before and I hope never to have to go through it again. Prayers for them..

Sorry everyone but I haven't slept at all, and the non-stop coverage/speculation is driving me really batty. This shelter-in-place thing was NOT thought out well. We cannot stay boarded up forever because of one teenager. What does this tell enemies who are more organized – and equipped! – than this guy and his brother?

Boston, I feel your frustration. I was in Cincinnati in the mid-90s during the riots, and we all had a curfew and had to be in our homes at 8 p.m. That was nothing compared to this, and even then the feelings were the same — that it was a crazy, surreal reaction.

@mooshki: honestly I can see why al Queda isn't claiming it. Considering where the bomb was detonated it really wasn't very efficient, seeing as how there were thousands of people in the area, the attack was poorly executed. Also the bombers have run now and behaved like cowards, they wouldn't like to claim them. And they're close to getting Afghanistan back, they don't want to get us all stirred up again. Likely if these guys are from a branch of al Queda they did this without permission from the higher-ups and they f'ed up bad because now the US is pissed and al Queda is going to be pissed to be associated with this mess too

The intelligent, thoughtful comments posted here warm my heart in the same way as the photo of cowboy hat guy helping the injured man. It bears remembering that like most of you posters on CDAN, people are generally GOOD. Thanks for being such a caring blogging community CDANer's!

I understand the frustration–but until they find him, I can't imagine what else the authorities can do.

They already car-jacked a man and took him hostage for a while (thank goodness they let him go) and they've demonstrated they will commit murder by shooting the MIT officer in his car–he wasn't even a threat to them and they took him out.

To be honest, ever since 9/11, I've felt like the authorities here have been so sensitive to this kind of threat, because the planes came from here-that I feel like they are absolutely determined to do this right and get him. There are literally thousands of police, state police–they've pulled in support from little towns outside the city and as far away as Rhode Island and CT.

God, what a mess they've created and I guess that's what they wanted. They've mentioned that he might be injured from the firefight they had when his brother was killed–so he may have crawled away somewhere and died–and they have to keep looking until someone finds him.I'm about 1/2 hr outside of the city and even out here there isn't much traffic on the road.

I think the police must be absolutely exhausted–they've all been working flat out since Monday. I hope this is over soon.

I'm glad most people are taking this seriously–we don't need anyone else to get hurt by getting in the middle of something.

I want to say I think the Mayor and the Governor have done an absolutely great job under horrible circumstances. Menino was in the freaking hospital and checked himself out to go to the finish line when it happened. He's going back for treatment but he's been in action as if he wasn't having any problem.

I'm sorry I'm only just checking in, but yes, I'm fine–my town (Somerville) isn't officially under lockdown, but they've recommended that we lie low here. I first heard about the MIT shooting/shootout in Watertown last night when some of my friends talked about it on FB; turned on the TV and watched for a while. No one knew then if it was the bombers, but the explosions, etc. did have people wondering. Went to bed around 3; Mom called about quarter to 8 to say "TURN ON YOUR TV!!!" and I've been up ever since.

IIRC, Russia & Chechnya have been having it out for years now; the Russians have been very brutal in their treatment of the Chechnyans, and the latter have been just as bad when they hit back–the mass kidnappings in the theater in Moscow and the school in Beslan were Chechnyan attacks. As I understand it, Al-Qaeda got involved when the Chechnyans, many/most of whom were Muslims, started casting around for support; they weren't there when trouble started, but they've certainly done a good job exploiting it for their own ends. (They can say what they like, but it's clear religion is only an excuse for what Al-Qaeda really wants, which is (a) temporal power, and (b) to fuck up as much shit as possible, which makes them no different from pretty much every other bunch of international terrorists to come down the pike. They play on religious themes to reel in angry, confused, and/or needy people who are trying to fill a void in their lives, just like every other cult out there–it's Co$ with bigger, badder weapons and minus the star power.) Then ordinary Muslims get attacked (like the mother in Malden the other day) and treated badly, which understandably pisses them off (I've known plenty of Muslims in my time, and they're good people and assholes in the same proportion as people in general–most people are basically decent, but they get pissed when scapegoated for things they didn't do and don't agree with), which leads to some of the really pissed-off becoming radicalized and take up arms…lather/rinse/repeat.

Isn't there a line from The Dark Knight to the effect of "some people just want to watch the world burn"? Yeah…that sounds about right.

Cowards? Aren't we all on here? Hell look at the tanning mom thread people just making fun of her. Would any of you say all that stuff to her face? We are evil all we do is talk shit on celebs and each other behind a freaking computer.

I've seen a comment or two asking why turn on the country that took you in.I'm going off them moving here in 02 if this has since been clarified as wrong than ignore this please. But they moved here with their parents it is possible one or both didn't want to move here. I was a horrible kid when i was 10 when I moved from Illinois. I didn't want to leave my friends etc. Also in 02 how nicely were foreigners treated? It was after 9/11 I'm sure it sucked here for them.

Kinda OT and i don't mean to be on bad taste with this question but don't we have flying drones? They can't find this guy? Can't drones patrol a event?

I'm of the belief that this is the new normal. Attacks will happen its inevitable. I think on Bill Maher last week he said America has been at war in 216 out of 267 years. People are bound to hate us we're fighters.

I don't post often but read often and I know the people of this site don't want a religion war so let's keep in mine Muslim is a religion. Its what you're doing.

Just a little PSA, please be careful whom you get your information from. As amazed as I am how far technology has come and how quickly we receive information, it's not always true or valid. We've become spoiled at how quickly everything is conducted nowadays. The scramble to be the 1st to provide info and answers often lead to misinformation and worse.

I don't know about everyone else, but I for one will be consuming some alcoholic beverages tonight after the week we've been through. The boston bombings, the Waco explosion that's rocked an entire town, the flooding in the midwest and that's in the US alone. Remember tonight as you go home to your loved ones, do not take for granted that you have shelter, safety, access to water, food and utilities. These basic things we all take for granted, people struggle for everyday. People in the middle east, north korea, syria, and more live in the same terror Boston citizens have experienced this week EVERY DAY. We're lucky and don't ever forget.

Are you aware of what these two have done over the last 18 hours? They held up a 7/11 have killed an MIT cop, hijacked a car, shot a transit cop, injured 15 others, lead police on a high speed chase through suburbia while throwing GRENADES at them.

I think it is safe to save your outrage over the idea that they are "just suspects" and we are jumping to conclusions for another time. Even if they didn't turn out to be the bombers, they are murderers either way.

Mooshkie-really? unneccesary as I can assure you I amk far from stupid. Hopefully you also know what I am talking about in reference to Chechnya and their terrorist organizations, and why these facts are very important when trying to figure out why these to did this. Much of it does not add up. The baby al-queda thing is interesting. al-quaeda may not have claimed anything yet-but they also haven't denied anything either which is worth considering.

Let's be clear here people-all muslims are not terrorists-this is COMPLETELY obvious since if they were, it would be the end of the world as there are 1 billion believers. No person actually thinks that all muslims are terrorists unless they are delusional. Radical Islam is a global threat and has killed thousands of their OWN people.

It looks like these kids were radicalized and now we have this….it is very sad for everyone involved, and the entire city of Boston. I feel awful for their Uncle as well who now has this taint on him through no fault of his own.

@Empress: Yeah, these guys were/are more likely Al-Qaeda wannabes rather than part of the main group; at the risk of sounding flip, the main group tends to "go big or go home"–they do things like 9/11, trying to bomb planes, the USS Cole–not making pissant little bombs in kitchen equipment and planting them in areas that don't have as many people as other nearby spots.

Other stuff I've heard/know about/etc.: (1) Supposedly the brother on the run is wearing a suicide vest, which sounds to me as if he's not planning on being taken alive; as an Iraq/Afghanistan vet friend pointed out, unless a whole lot of very specific protocol is followed, once someone puts on one of those vests, they usually don't take them off. He also apparently ran over his big brother w/the car in his haste to get away during the Watertown firefight, and I get the impression that may have been the biggest factor in what killed the guy, not just being filled w/lead & shrapnel. (Also, way to look after your brother, dude…) Another FOAF lives next door to where these guys lived near Inman Square in Cambridge; needless to say, he's damn near crapping himself. Also, a couple of good friends had Homeland Security knocking on their door yesterday at 9 a.m. because someone thought the husband looked suspicious–tall guy, black hair, olive complexion, long black leather trenchcoat–and they had to follow up on the lead, thereby totally freaking out my friends. (The man is Cuban/Puerto Rican, born in NYC, a devoted husband and daddy and hardcore geek, and has worn that coat as long as I've known him, which is coming up on 10 years or so. The hell of it is, though, that he does look a little like Dzhokhar, which I'm sure freaks him out even more now that he knows that.)

Oh, and we don't know yet if the SCA event our barony has planned for tomorrow will be able to go ahead yet, so I don't know if I should be trying to bake bread for my lunch tomorrow or not…guess I should go ahead & start the bread anyway, eh? And yes, cabin fever sucks, and I have it bad right now…

Given the entire conversation that was happening, what I said made sense and most reasonable people would know I did not mean "all chechnyans are terrorists". Chechnyan terrorists are muslim terrorists. Its one in the same and if you also know anything about that area its even more obvious what i meant. This BS fighting over unimportant stuff and calling people "stupid" bc they missed a word is not productive.

And EmEyeKay, if you're still hanging around, tell Vicki C. I miss her posts, please!

CDaners, stay safe. It's been a hell of a week. It started with a kid bringing a machete to my son's high school, and went downhill from there. Love and hope to Boston, and West, TX, and everywhere in between.

Hugs to all of our Boston area CDaNers on lockdown.It's not fun (been there done that).Try to just chill (mentally, emotionally, and physically).Not easy, but it helps.Stay in touch.Maybe @Robin will make you all some brownies?

@car- again, at this point it doesn't matter as the reason they were found was a stick up at a 7/11 and then the ensuing murder of an MIT officer and a car chase which involved grenades being thrown at officers in a suburban area. They can be "set up" all they want, there is no explaining away this. Why would they have such a stockpile of weapons if they were "set up".

Wow..just wow…even after your so-called clarification, you still get a sideye from me @katie and I don't thing it was a missed word, more like a Freudian slip.

Your clarification seems more like what politicians do when they've been called out. I can't imagine someone making such generalizations about us Americans and then saying, oh any reasonable person knows what I really meant.

And I was aware of them killing the officer but my question was pointed as to whether they were the bombers. Clearly if someone has positively id'd them then they will get their day in court if the coward doesn't kill himself first.

Sherry, I'm not sure what channel I saw it on but one of the bombing victims–he is in one of the pictures that was published a lot –the guy where they were running him to the medical care with a guy holding a tourniquet running beside him—he has identified one of the guys as the one who put down a backpack right at his feet–I believe he lost a leg in the explosion.

Jinx…>Cathy just answered your question too.

I want to say how much I appreciate Enty giving us this place to talk about this together. I am near this and have been watching it alone–and it doesn't personally impact me–but it is so good to have someone else to talk to about it.

Given the discussion previous to me saying that, it should have been clear. I was explaining what a chechnyan terrorist is, and they are muslim. It was clear the two people we are talking about are terrorists, and so I just said "chechnyans are muslim terrorists" as it is already clear that these two are indeed terrorists. Again, it should be clear to everyone that not everyone from any region or religion is all the same way. Chechnya has also been subjected to awful things from the Russian regime so the fault lies both ways there.

I find it sad that many people constantly try to accuse people of things without knowing them, or constantly accusing people of the worst. Most people actually aren't that bad. So give it a rest already. You have a very dim view if humans if that is what you think I meant even after a very easy explanation. Sorry for you and how you go about life, constantly trying to find the worst.

If I actually thought those things, I would at least have the guts to stand by them if thats what I meant. Most people who think that way do, unless they are actually a politician trying to get elected.

I'm a longtime lurker, and I love the way you guys are like a community, always supporting each other. I live in Boston and two of my dear friends were gravely wounded in the attacks on Monday. Since everything on the site is very "celeb-oriented" and I love reading the blind items and reveals and there's so much about Bradley Cooper being a jerk (he may be), I wanted to share this with you. He met my friends' relatives at Obama's interfaith service yesterday and they told him Celeste and Sydney were in the hospital and huge fans and would he visit if he had time. He said he would promise to try. Not only did he show up but he stayed and was SO sweet to everyone. You can see pictures if you scroll down on their fundraising site:

I'm amazed the teen bomber survived a standoff that took his brother's life, escaped on foot, and has managed to elude the police for 12+ hours now with an inability to move about a deserted area unseen. Where could he possibly be?

Sorry if this has been posted. Older brother was married with a childhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2311809/EXCLUSIVE-The-middle-class-student-married-Boston-bomber-daughter-secretly-converting-Islam-college.html

Sorry you guys in Boston are stuck in your house. At least it will be a good story someday to tell to your posterity??? @Katie, I understood you all along and found your posts interesting. So thanks. All of this overboard politically correct stuff drives me nuts, sometimes people just fit the stereotype.

Bringinguglyback – right on target about drones! Drones couldn't detect the bombs?? They think we're all stupid! So many ways to prevent this. And this marathon is one of the biggest events in this country. Massive fail.

I can't believe no one is bringing up the military take over of a whole town. The tanks, the armed officers doing searches of everyone's homes – this is clearly a drill – not just a " manhunt ". We are being desensitized and conditioned to think this type of response from our government is ok. Pictures upon pictures are being posted from citizens in Boston being held hostage in their homes and being subjected to illegal searches. I'll get yelled at for saying this I'm sure but I don't care. Wake up America.

Katie, I get what you meant immediately. I am middle eastern and I hear shit like 'towel head,' 'sand nigger,' etc., to my face all the time. I'm not Muslim but I get lumped in. Anyhow, you explained yourself, let's all freakin let it go now. In any case, what I find more offensive on here, that's never followed by an apology, is alk the conform trendspeak borrowed from People magazine. You all jump on each other for grammatical errors but then say sickeningly precious things like 'I totes agree.' Totes! Sickening. 'Interwebs.' Precious, why? 'mani pedi' 'staycay' 'vaycay' 'rockin' etc. You can't totes agree with a theoretical viewpoint, even in a philosophical manner. Totes away on CDAN, but it's not cute. It's going to be one of those words that's rounded up at the end of 2013 and shot in the head by some magazine, maybe Newsweek, if they aren't annihilating other cutey verbiage in the interwebs.

Oh for Christ's sake Alicia, fuck off! Where the hell did your righteous principles get people when your rights were being sanctified the day of the bombing? This is a huge threat. If you have a problem with an abundance if caution go fucking walk your dog (leave the dog at home) up and down a street or patrol to help him out so his rights aren't violated also. Door to door, big fucking deal. Its not like they're smelling your panties. Grow up. Bombing makes a town a temporary war zone. All rules are off till safety resumes. It's a fucking war zone!!!

Multiple rapid-fire shots (at least a couple dozen) from what sounded like an assault weapon were just heard in Watertown with a marked increase in sirens and police activity. Swat teams are swarming a specific area.

@Just another girl: I think your point is really accurate. I made the calculation and the oldest brother must have been 16 when he arrived to the States. It s actually a difficult age to change country, language, … and adapt to a new lifestyle and society. It s also too early to speculate and make a definitive opinion right now.

I think we all are familiar with a war zone, but thank you for serving. In any case, bombs went off in a civilian neighborhood and now it is being treated as such. I'm not being sarcastic about your service, either, thank you. I do not think we can be too cautious and I think it's ungrateful to complain about military presence during this kind of threat.

Local CBS affiliate says someone at the scene confirms it's the 19 yr old –he is in the boat –the overhead pictures on tv show a big boat covered by a tarp–he probably found a place with nobody home and hunkered down there.

Seriously–there are hundreds of police –they had just pulled back after the press conference lifting the ban on staying inside-and now they are all moving back in.

They did it. That s the only thing we can be sure of. The rest is speculation fuelled by TV and social media.

As a former TV newsreader, don t listen to anything that s said on air while an event is still happening. Only the images are facts, what reporters/analysts/talking heads say is often pure speculation or off topic because nobody in the newsroom has no time or resources for fact checking.

Wait for an event to be over to get real news, anything said during it is highly speculative, subjective. Don t form any firm opinion on it.

Gawker says that today s gossip is tomorrow s news but it s not quite the truth.

I'm confused and have heard conflicting reports: did he run off on foot or escape in the car and then run over his brother as he left? Otherwise, how could he have ran his brother over? Maybe ran him over and then jumped out of the car?

@Bringing, the brothers threw exploding devices at police during the car chase last night, the dead brother's body was found with explosives attached to it, and a significant amount of explosives were found at their apartment today. Law enforcement has no idea what the teen may have with him. Their actions are appropriate. With lives on the line, it's never a bad idea to err on the side of caution.

@car54, yeah.. he wounded and probably frozen in fear. They've told him he's surrounded and ordered him to come out. So far no response. This could go on for awhile because I'm hearing they want to take him alive.

Alicia, I agree with you. Using fear to control people has become all too common in our country.

misspoppypants, overreact much?

Katie, it isn't a "missed word" that I have a problem with – you keep saying judgmental and ignorant things, and every time you try to explain yourself, it just gets worse. I don't think you're nearly as smart and knowledgeable as you obviously think you are.

First off, to all the posters in Boston (or who have family/friends in Boston), glad to here you guys are ok and please STAY SAFE during all this madness. I have been glued to the news all week and didn't really sleep much last night watching everything transpire. The BostonPD has been absolutely incredible. Just as I finished reading through all your comments, I see that the bomber is now in custody.

I really hope he is alive b/c I want ANSWERS.

I've flipping thru networks (meh) but Reddit's police scanner transcriptions are what I've been following the most closely.

What I found interesting is that reports said it was the older brother who was the extrovert (per his trainer) and the younger brother who was the introvert, but the younger brother is the one who's had all these people calling in expressing amazement that he could do this. And I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that this 19 year old kid, who was possibly already wounded last night has managed to escape on foot from thousands of police, SWAT, FBI, etc. I was also thinking that Al Queda would have immediately claimed this as well.

I was so glad to see that Jeff Bauman survived. His photo haunted me, probably more so than any of the other images.

What a terrible, awful fucking week this has been. Good riddance, mid-April.

@car54, I can't imagine. I feel worn out just following this from a distance. Your city deserves a long break for sure. Franklin St. residents are giving law enforcement a well deserved round of applause.

@Lelaina, he's alive and being transported to a hospital. I'm pretty happy he's alive too. Now there's a better chance to know why they would do this. I feel for their family. Not only did they lose a loved one to death and prison, they have to deal with the fact that these two caused such a nightmare.

There is something ironic–this all started Monday with the crowds in the street cheering at the finish line. And five days later the city is out in the streets cheering as the police pull out of Watertown.

Thank you law enforcement for your bravery and your commitment to the citizens of Boston and the United States.Since the suspects came in as political refugees, they were entitled to immediately collect all public assistance, housing, food stamps, medicaid. Apparently the older fool went back to Russia for 6 months and upon his return the FBI cleared him. Why would these people think they needed to bite the hand that fed them? Why did the mother just get convicted of shoplifting at Lord and Taylor who the hell knows. We live in a great country and need to carefully screen those who would do us harm. prayers to the victims of these bastards who ruined so many lives. God Bless America!!

Thank God this part is over, and they brought him in alive, although it remains to be seen if he'll pull through. I can't help but look at that baby face in the yearbook pictures and think "what happened? what made you decide that all this was the right thing to do? did you look up to your big brother so much that you were willing to do whatever he suggested, or was some of this your idea?" I can't bring myself to be too hard on his parents right now; leaving aside any possible issues of his dad supporting this kind of agenda (we don't know enough, and it's too early to tell), no parent wants to think their kids could be capable of doing something horrible, plus they were having to deal with the loss of a child to boot. (Attention terrorist wannabes: It's not just your intended victims that you're going to hurt–it's your family and friends who care about you, and who'll be wondering where they went wrong, and did they miss any signs along the way that could have helped them prevent something horrible from happening? If you don't give a rat's ass about the public, at least think about the people closest to you, who'll not only have their own lives ruined by what you did, but won't get any sympathy or support to boot. *sigh*)

OK, time to think about going to bed; I've got an SCA event tomorrow that'll hopefully cheer all of us Carolingians up bigtime. (The Barony of Carolingia is the greater Boston/northeastern MA group, FWIW.) Archery, knitting, and turnip races, here we come…

The only answer is that they are filthy f*ing animals who no longer deserve to walk the earth with homo sapiens. What's he gonna say? He was busted smoking pot at the marathon last year, so he decided to have a lethal temper tantrum? I never even want to hear his voice. Glad he was caught and Bostonians can sleep sound tonight.

The Russians warned the U.S. govt in 2010 about the older brother. FBI interviewed him and thought the Russians were wrong. Family has had forms of govt assistance since seeking asylum here. Mom was convicted of shoplifting, dad went back to Russia and sister hasn't spoken to her brothers in at least 18 months since her husband of that long has never met them…and the media found the sister before the FBI.

@All About Eve – I'm a little late on this, but thanks for posting that link and making it clicky. I was going to re-post all of the links I had with the HTML tags, but I got called to set so I haven't been able to really get back online till now.

It's awful that a cop had to die, and it's awful that several others were hurt… but I'm so glad that no on else got hurt in all of this. It could have easily happened, especially with the bombs being tossed out of the car as they were being chased. They could have killed the carjack victim, and they could have hit an innocent with a stray bullet (just look at the pictures of people having bullet holes in their walls.)

This is a horrible event that won't soon be forgotten, but I'm choosing to look on the bright side. So many hurt, but by my count four dead… it could have been four hundred if they planted those bombs differently. I do disagree with Lisa's point though. It's very important to understand why they did this. It's very important to know if an organization, (or even a country) trained them and helped plan the attack. That's why it's so important that he was taken alive… now we can find those things out. And if others were involved, then we can bring them to justice as well.

Also, hearing what he has to say could lead our government to re-think their immigration policies. It's huge that he was taken alive, and it's incredible important to hear what he has to say.

No, not even a raised pulse, Mooshki. Grateful for police and government intervention. Can't stand ungrateful American cowards like Alicia's comments indicate. Alicia does not have the power to protect us in crisis. Bash the military and police for what? It's over. And no more casualtie, it was handed well. Alicia, thank the govt and military now.

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